TV rivals claim lead in viewership ratings

ABS-CBN Corp. announced a lead in nationwide ratings while main rival GMA Network Inc. ruled in key urban areas for the month of May.

In a statement on Tuesday, ABS-CBN, which uses data from Kantar Media, said it cornered a nationwide average audience share of 44 percent against GMA’s 31 percent.

GMA, using data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, said it got an average total day people audience share of 36.3 percent, beating ABS-CBN’s 30.7 percent in urban Luzon, which accounted for 72 percent of all urban TV viewers in the country.

In its statement, ABS-CBN said it was ahead of its rival in certain urban areas around the country.

For Metro Manila, ABS-CBN claimed a 42-percent lead against GMA’s 24 percent while in mega Manila, it won 36 percent against GMA’s 31 percent. ABS-CBN said it was also ahead in total Luzon, total Visayas and total Mindanao.

GMA said it continued to lead across the morning, afternoon and evening blocks. The network said ratings were also bolstered by its coverage of the midterm elections last month.

Nielsen TV Audience Measurement’s client pool covers a total of 32 clients/subscribers consisting of six local TV networks including ABS-CBN, TV5, Aksyon TV and CNN Philippines apart from its regional clients.

Kantar Media is a multinational market research group that specializes in audience measurement in more than 80 countries. ABS-CBN said Kantar had 26 TV networks, ad agencies and panregional networks subscribing to its ratings services.